Author Topic: Horney - Pisshat GT  (Read 9662 times)

Offline jv

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Horney - Pisshat GT
« on: 22 April 2008, 19:33 »
:)
« Last Edit: 29 August 2008, 16:55 by jv »
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Offline Horney

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Re: Horneyâ„¢ - Pisshat GT
« Reply #1 on: 24 April 2008, 11:48 »
Right JV has kindly set this up for me so I best start filling it in.

I few weeks back my MKII Gti was doing my head in, it let me down twice in one week and I lost my rag with it and decided it had to go. I fixed it up and then sold it on to a mate who is now sorting it out properly. This left me with a dilemma, I was car less. I already knew another MKII was not going to be the next Horneymobile, I’ve had three and I was itching for something new to play with all I knew was it had to be a dub. I’ve owned a MKII Polo in the past and I loved that but they’re just not fast enough for me and I get bored of the lack of performance very quickly. So what I needed was a cheap dub which was a bit different but that was still reasonably quick. I toyed with the idea of a MKIII Gti but frankly my budget would have got me a rusty shed of an 8v, not really what I was after. …Joe poste dup some pics of his B3 Wagon on D90’s and that sparked my interest, then a friend bought a G60 Syncro B3 wagon and my interest grew. I went to do a photoshoot of said G60 and while chatting in the pub afterwards he mentioned they built a 2.0 16v GT version. My mind was made up, now the search begun.
   
With the golf gone and money burning a hole in my pocket I hit the forums and eBay like a man possessed but all I could find were GL’s etc. 16v GT’s seemed to be be pretty rare although I did find a couple of 1.8 ones they were dogs with stellar mileage. It seemed I was destined to get a lower spec car. While searching Vzi I noticed one which had been for sale sometime ago and then sold. On further inspection it turns out that the fellow who had bought it had posted it up for sale again at the end of the original thread and it had gone unnoticed by myself and others for several weeks. I PM’d him to see if it was still available and the answer was yes. It ticked all the boxes. It was a 2.0 16v GT, it already had the half smoked rear lights, it was only on 121,000 miles it had 4 months Tax and Test and he only wanted £450 for it. The downsides were that it was white (not had much luck with white cars), it was in Swansea and it had a sketchy service history with no documentation of ever having had a cambelt change. After a week of PM’s to-ing and fro-ing he agreed to repair a few faults (Rear wheel bearings and heatermatrix) and that he would pick me up from the station when I went to collect it. Being the impulsive person I am I decided to go for it. Yup I was buying a car unseen, with a sketchy history, a possible dodgy cambelt and then driving it 175 miles home. I even booked a 1 way train ticket as a return was loads extra. Am I mental? Probably. I did worry for a while that I would end up arriving home on the back of an AA truck and promptly find the wife packing my bags.

However I got the train to Swansea, got collected and arrived at the chaps house to see the car in the flesh for the first time. What can I say, it looked pretty crap. The paint was flat and dull,the bumpers faded and grey, the gear change felt aweful, the interior was ripped and it smelled aweful. On the plus side it went like the clappers and the stereo worked. I parted with my £450, filled it with petrol, lit a fag and pointed back to England. 3 1.2hrs later I rolled up outside the flat without a single drama and feeling like I’d driven less than half that distance. Ok so I was dreading it snapping a belt all the way home and my ears were finely tuned all the way listening out for impending doom. The only thing that happened was the sound of something falling off the back end but I put this down to me catching some road debris (more on this later.)

The pics below were taken 5 mins after I pulled up at home.





I was dead chuffed but Mrs Horney was not amused. It took much persuasion to get her off the sofa and outside to have a look at my new purchase and seemed more interested in the interesting smell inside than anything else. I don’t think she likes it!

Here’s a run down of the spec of the beast:
2.0 16v 9a Passat GT Estate
4 x Electric windows
Electric Sunroof
Power Steering
Trip computer (Same as a MKII/MKIII Gti but better screen)
Front Fogs
Clear front indicators
Half tint rear lights
GT Suspension is apparently stiffer than other models
Height adjustable seats

When new this would have set back it’s first owner over £20K and at the time was the most expensive VW you could buy. It’s just missing the options of Aircon and the rear load cover.

Offline Horney

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Re: Horneyâ„¢ - Pisshat GT
« Reply #2 on: 24 April 2008, 12:00 »
Day 2 and I decided it needed a damn good clean, polis and back to black. The results are pleasing indeed. It appears under years of grime and neglect there’s a pretty straight and tidy car.







Day 3 and Mark (VeedubGTI16v) kindly came round and helped me change the cambelt and tensioner. Well when I say he helped me what I actually mean is he did it while I tried to make myself feel useful by making tea, rolling him fags and chatting rubbish while he worked away. The net result of all this was a gleaming new camblet and my power steering no longer squeeking on full lock!

After a couple of days shake down I compiled a list of things needing attention.

* Nasty rattle from rear suspension
* Ignition switch needs to be wiggled to start it. New barrel required me thinks!
* Interior stinks, needs a decent clean.
* Drivers side rear electric window not working.
* All windows and sunroof need mech greasing up.
* Rear wiper needs to go (It doesn't work anyway).
* Coilovers need to be ordered and fitted.
* Steels need repainting.
* One front fog needs replacing
* New plates
* Gear linkage needs attention.

The gear linkage finally broke and after phoning round I found that it’s rather expensive and VW only. In super bodge mode I repaired it for £7 with items bought from Robert Dyas. Seems to be holding OK for now but I have a more permanent bodge in mind for the weekend and a used replacement to keep in reserve. It lloks a nightmare to change so not going to do it till I really have to.

I also decided to investigate the rattle from the rear which turned out to be the rear drivers side calliper not being attached to the hub. It looks like when Chris changed the wheel bearing he forgot to torque up the bolts and they rattled out, this would explain the noise I heard on the way home from collecting it. I’m collecting some new bolts from VW today and fitting them tonight so we’re back in action!

Coilovers were ordered today and I expect to have them land on my doorstep middle of next week. So the plans for this weekend are:

* Repaint steels white
* Steam clean interior
* Investigate non working E/W
* Grease all the windows and sunroof mechs
* Remove rear wiper and gromit the hole.

 
That’s all for now folks!

Offline Horney

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Re: Horneyâ„¢ - Pisshat GT
« Reply #3 on: 26 April 2008, 17:53 »
Got the rattle cans and sandpaper out today and I'm well chuffed with the results. Not so good is the fact that both rear tyres are far from round on close inspections. Never seen tyre wear like it, very odd! Anyhoo think I'll try and get a pair of steel wheels with good tyres nd paint them white rather than buy new tyres.

Pics

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Nick